Carton



April 27 1965 v. R. KAHLER ETAL 3,180,486-

CARTON Filed Aug. so, 1961 United States Patent O 3,186,486 CARTN VernRobert Kahler, Grandville, and Daniel Edward Bergsma, Grand Rapids,Mich., assignors to Packaging Corporation of America, Dover, Del., acorporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 3G, 1961, Ser. No. 134,916 4 Claims.(Cl. 20G-46) The present invention relates to an improved package andmore particularly to an improved carton having a non-abrasive innersurface.

One of the most highly accepted forms of packaging materials is thatmade of paperboard, including cardboard and corrugated paperboardmaterials. Paperboard is readily available in different weights andthicknesses and is relatively inexpensive. It can be pre-formed as aflat blank for ease in shipment and can then be assembled at the site ofpackaging and is clean to handle and readily disposed of when no longerserviceable.

Many shipping containers or cartons of this character have coatings ofwax or other materials on the inner portions of the carton 'that are incontact with the packaged item in order to prevent the paperboard frommarring the finish of the packaged item. This procedure has severaldisadvantage In the case of wax coatings, the Wax is messy and oftentransfers to the packaged articles and frequently deposition of thecoating material on the flaps of the container may hinder the normalcarton sealing operation. Moreover, an extra operation is required toapply the coating .to the paperboard which results in added costs.

The present invention discloses a carton having an interior surface of afelt-like texture which is non-abrasive to packaged items and which isadmirably suited for the packaging of items which are susceptible tomarring or abrasion.

In accordance with the present invention, a carton is formed frompaperboard or similar material which has been specially treated in amanner to modify the surface texture so as to produce a felt-likenon-abrasive nish thereon.

Treatment `of the fibrous paperboard surface is carried out to alter thesurface fiber arrangement so as to free the surface fibers from theirnormal constrained position While permitting one end of the fibers toretain their bond to the base stock. This effect can be achieved byvario-us procedures. Thus, the desired modification of the surfacetexture can be accomplished by treating the paper-board surfaces lwith aliquid agent capable of weakening the iibre-to-tibre bond. Variousliquids such as water, steam, glycerine and the like can be employed-for this purpose. Alternately, the desired modification of the surfacetexture is achieved by mechanically abr-ading the paperboard surface soas to reduce the fibre-to-tibre bond and detach one end of the surfacebers from the bond. The result is a felt-like non-abrasive finish on thepaperboard. The desired surface liber arrange-ment can be accomplishedwith the use of various abrasive means such as brushes, abrasive emcrypaper, sandpaper, abrasive cloths and the like. Conveniently the desiredsurface ber arrangement is achieved by subjecting the paperboard surfaceto the abrasive action of stationary, oscillating or rotating brusheshaving suitably abrasive bristles made of various materials such aswire, tampico, synthetic materials and so forth. In one preferredprocedure, the paperboard surface, after being chemically treated with aliquid, is mechanically abraded while it is Wet; in which condition thepaperboard surface is sometimes found to be more receptive to theabrasive treatment.

The invention will be yfurther 4illustrated in conjunction Hpce with theydrawings accompanying this specification and forming a part thereof andin which:

FIGURE l is a perspective view partially cut away of a folded cartonhaving a modified inner surface texture in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIGURE. 2 is a top plan view of a paperboard blank from which theimproved box or carton is constructed, the inner surface of the blankbeing uppermost.

'FIGURE 3 Ais an elevational view showing diagrammatically thearrangement of one for-m of apparatus suitable for modifying the surfacetexture of paperboard in accordance with the invention.

In the drawings, FIGURE l shows a folded carton 1b having a Afelt-likenon-abrasive inner surface as indicated at 11. The modified text-ure ofsurface 11 is achieved by treating one surface of a blank 12 from whichthe carton 1t) is formed. As shown in FlGURE 2, the cartou 10 is formedfrom a blank 12 which includes a bottom 13 and side walls 14 and 15. Theend -Walls of the box or carton are designated respectively 4at 16 and17. The ilaps 18 fold on the score lines indicated at 19 and 2t) to formthe top of the carton.

One exemplary method of modifying the surface characteristics of thepaperboard blank to achieve the nonabrasiye finish prior to folding and-gluing to 'form the carton is described in conjunction with FIGURE 3.The invention can be practiced in various ways employing a variety ofapparatus and therefore the arrangement and use of the apparatusdescribed in the accompanying drawings must be regarded as by way ofexample only.

At the right end of FIGURE 3 a stack of car-ton blanks 12 is indicatedat 22 in a suitable support 24. These carton blanks 12 are ready fortheir initial folding and gluing steps and the carton blanks 12 thushave been suitably cut and scored. Before the blanks 12 are folded andglued they are fed onto the conveyor 2S by an intermittent feed 26 -fortreatment in accordance with the present invention.

The carton blanks 12 are carried by conveyor 25 to a position indicatedat 27 beneath the contain-er 28 which holds a liquid such as a 50-50mixture of water and glycerine. The bottom of container 28 is providedwith a nozzle 2% whereby the glycerine and water mixture is sprayed onthe carton blank 12 to uniformly wet the uppermost surface 11 thereof.The carton blank 12 is then .moved by means of conveyor 2S into contactwith revolving brush 30. The wire bristles 31 of `brush 3i) abrade thewet surfaces 11 of carton blanks 12 to cause one end of the fibers toraise from the paperboard while permitting the other end of the fibersto retain their bond to the base stock. The carton blanks 12 now have -afeltlike non-abrasive surface 11 and can now be assembled to produce thecarton as shown in FIGURE 1.

The regularity and excellence of the surface texture of the paperboarddepends upon correlation of the type of paperboard and the degree ofabrasion to which it is subjected. Each particular paperboard materialrequires special consideration to obtain a particular surface texture.However, the degree of abrasion to which the paperboard surface issubjected and the type of abrasive means employed can be readilydetermined by simple trial procedures. It is possible and contemplatedthat with certain paperboard4 materials there is advantage to subjectingthe paperboard surfaces to more than one abrasive treatment and to theuse of different abrasive means for modifying the surface texture.

It is to be understood that the above described treatment of -the cartonbl-anks is by way of example only and modification of the texture of thepaperboard surfaces according to the present invention can take place inany one of many ways and at many stages of the manufacturing operations.Thus, for example, during the manu- Y data.

facture of the paperboard the surface can be suitably treated at the wetend of the paper 'making machine, or inv `the dryer section, 'or anytime before the paper Ais wound Y into a roll or sheeted. Moreover,Vduring the manu-facture of cormigated board'the'individual liner facingscan be treated prior to the singlefacer or prior to the doublebackeror'prior to the slitter and so forth.

The improved surface texture of paperboard treated in accordance withthe invention is shown by experimental Variousjpaperboard samples weretreated in `aecordance with the invention and evaluated VwithV respectto adsense ment of'iibrous carton blanks, it is apparent that theinvention is applicable to -the treatmentof iibrous materials ingeneral, which brous materials can be utilized in containers as liners,spacers or other interior packaging components. f

Those modifications and equivalents which fall within the spiritv of theinvention and the scope of the appended claims are'to -beconsidered-part of the invention,

their abrasion characteristics. To determine the abrasion icharacteristics the paperboard samples were rubbed againstvariousmaterials having a'smooth surface iinish.

Vi'mechanical rubbngmachine having a known loading Weight Aapplied'thereonV 'was employed to (accomplish the rubbing action. The degree ofabrasion to the smooth 'surfaced materials was then determined by 1)visual examination-for Vvmarring, y(2) weight differential, :(3)

Y changes in light re'ectance and (4) visualnexam'ination following anink wash. Thefpapenboard samples Were then numerically rated `withthelower numbers indicating less abrasion.

lUtilizing the above procedure various paperboard Y materials weretreated as follows:

sample Treatment Rating #26,Kraft Corrugated Board. Control-No.Treatment5.2 Do Surface sprayed with a 50-50 3.2

glycerine-water mixture. Wet with 50-50 glycerine-wat-er mixture andthen 'scued .with emery paper. Control-No treatment 5. Wet with 50-50glycerine-Water 1. 6

mixture and then scuted with stationary steel brush. p

#42 Kraft, A E1ute Do Do n 1.8 Do Sculed with stationary steel 1. 8brush.. Plain, Chip, A Flute Control-No treatment; 1. 0 Do sprayed with5(150 glyeeriue- 0.2

water mixture. Wet with (150 glycerinc-water 0. 2

mixture and then seuded with emcry paper. p

Y Itwillbe seen that the present invention provides an improved cartonhaving `a non-abrasive', inner surface. The need of lapplying' variouscoating materials to the vinner surfaces of cartons in an Vattempt toreduce theV We claim: Y l 1. A cartonerected 'from a iibrous paperboardmaterial having a texture on theV inner'surace thereof characterized bya weakened ibreeto-bre'bond with one end of the surface fibers beingdetached Vfrom the base to produce aV Vfelt-like non-abrasivesurfacetexture.

2. A dat unfolded cartonblank of `a librous rpaperboard Vmaterialadapted for'erection as an article carton, said carton blank havingatexture-on one surface over substantially the entire area thereofcharacterized by a weakened libreto-libre bond of the paperboardlwithone end `hot the surface ibersfbeing detached from the base to producea' telt-like non-'abrasive surface texture. Y

3. A brous paper materialy adapted ,forV use in containers as aninteriorpackaging component having aV texture on one surface Vover substantiallythe entirearea Y Abrasion abrasiyeness lthereof is avoided by thepresentinvention.

',"Thisresults'iu reduced costs for manufacturing cartons suitable'forpackaging articles susceptible to 'marring vWhile the precedingdiscussion pertained to the treatthereofcharacterized by a weakenedbre-to-tibrebond with I,one end ofthe surface ber's being detached fromVthe base to produce a felt-like non-abrasive surface texture. Y' Y 4.An object-contacting `i-brous paper packaging materialfhaving a surfacetexture characterized by a weakened brefto-ibre bond with oneend-ofthe'surface bers beingjdetached trom'the base to produce a`felt-like nonvabrasive surface texture.

eerenceszited by the Exaer Y

2. A FLAT UNFOLDED CARTON BLANK OF A FIBROUS PAPERBOARD MATERIAL ADAPTEDFOR ERECTION AS AN ARTICLE CARTON, SAID CARTON BLANK HAVING A TEXTURE ONONE SURFACE OVER SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE AREA THEREOF CHARACTERIZED BYA WEAKENED FIBER-TO-FIBER BOND OF THE PAPERBOARD WITH ONE END OF THESURFACE BEING DETACHED FROM THE BASE TO PRODUCE A FELT-LIKE NON-ABRASIVESURFACE TEXTURE.